Attorneys for some of the dozens of Hong Kong residents arrested for participating in pro-democracy protests in the last three months said on Wednesday that police officers have abused their clients, forcing them to drink what they believe was toilet water.

Protests have continued this week after thousands shut down Hong Kong International Airport on Monday and Tuesday in a bid to get the attention of the Hong Kong government. Protesters have issued five demands to the government, among them freedom for imprisoned peaceful dissidents. Protesters left the airport in the early morning hours of Wednesday after police raided it, seeking to extract two men that protesters had tied up, suspecting them to be Chinese communist agents. One of the men was confirmed to be a propagandist for the Global Times, a communist media outlet.

Hong - Kong - Movement - Ideals - Freedom

The Hong Kong protest movement is largely leaderless, and intentionally so, instead focusing on the ideals of individual freedom that protesters are defending. To the extent that the movement has leaders, however, they are veterans of the 2014 “Umbrella Revolution” that Beijing suppressed, some of whom remain imprisoned for refusing to respect the power of an autocratic state governed from over a thousand miles away.

The accusations raised by attorneys for the recently detained protesters raises questions about the treatment that activists like Chan Kin-Man, Edward Leung, and Benny Tai in prison. Tai was released on Thursday on bail, a sign the Chinese regime is concerned about pressure from abroad about human rights abuses against protesters.

Hong - Kong - Press - HKFP - Thursday

The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported on Thursday that two jailed protesters, who wished to remain anonymous, sought to denounce police for abuses against them. Activist Andy Chan, who spoke on their behalf, said that the protesters were accusing police of offering the men undrinkable toilet water while detained. Hong Kong’s toilets...